Materials handling apparatus



May 3, 1960 M. E. BERRY MATERIALS HANDLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed April 22, 1957 FIG.

INVENTOR M. E. BERRY 8y [5124M 25 92 A TTORNEY 1960 M. E. BERRY2,935,283

MATERIALS HANDLING APPARATUS Filed April 22, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR M. E. BE RR) ATTORNE Y MATERIALS HANDLING APPARATUS MosesEllison Berry, Jackson Heights, N.Y., assignor to Pallet AdapterCompany, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationApril 22, 1957, Serial No. 654,160

8 Claims. (Cl. 248-120) nitecl States Patent However, short lengths ofpipe, cylinders, rolls of linotion is to simplify and improve apparatusfor handling and storing elongated objects.

It has been proposed to use special pallets with integral side walls forthe storage of elongated materials. While this method is satisfactoryfor some purposes, the storage space required for these special palletsis an expensive luxury when the space is needed for storing standardmaterials. The use of various types of brackets which requireinterfitting with or locking onto the pallets have also been proposed.Some of these arrangements have the disadvantage of requiring specialfittings secured to the pallets. This is expensive and impractical,because it involves putting brackets on all pallets, or delaying storageactivities while fittings are secured to the pallets.

Accordingly, a specific object of the invention is to eliminate thenecessity for complex mechanical interlocking of brackets and palletswhen elongated materials are palletized.

In accordance with the invention, pipe, cylinders, and the like may bereadily palletized through the use of freestanding, open, U-shapedbrackets. placed on each pallet, with the brackets on opposite ends ofthe pallet. The elongated objects are placed in the alined U-shapedbrackets, and another pallet is then placed directly on supportingflanges at the upper ends of the upwardly extending arms of thebrackets.

The U-shaped brackets in combination with standard pallets have manyadvantages as compared with prior art arrangements. One importantadvantage is the simplicity of mounting brackets on pallets. Because thebrackets Two brackets are are free-standing, no time is wasted insecuring the Making the brackets from standard metal sheet or anglestock has the advantage of inexpensive construction. In addition, theresulting brackets are sufii'ciently rugged to stand up under the normalrough treatment on the waterfront. Furthermore, the upwardly extendingarmsare sufficiently strong to hold elongated objects and the load ofextra pallets without additional bridging members iriterconnecting thearms.

It may also be noted that the weight of the elongated objects restsprincipally on the transverse base member near the bottom of theU-shaped bracket. This means that adequate lateral stability of thebrackets is maintained even with relatively short lateral feetextensions on each end of the brackets.

The U-shaped brackets in accordance with the present invention have thefurther advantage of holding the elongated material above the floor ofthe pallet, thus allowing a rope or wire sling to be passed under thematerial for hoisting it into a ships hold, for example.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention may be readilyapprehended from a consideration of the following detailed description,the appended claims, and the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement for palletizing elongated objects inaccordance with the invention; and

Fig. 2 shows one of the brackets employed in the materials handlingarrangement of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows, by way ofexample, elongated material stored in a palletizing arrangement inaccordance with the invention. In Fig. 1 three standard stevedoringpallets 11, 12 and 13 are stacked on top of each other. As indicatedwith reference to the pallet 11, each of the pallets has an upper floor25, a lower floor 26, and three transverse spacing members 27, 28 and29. It may be noted in passing that the standard four foot by four footwarehousing pallets have transverse members at each end of the floors.The four foot by six foot standard stevedoring pallets, however, havethree transverse members spaced in the middle and slightly back fromeach end, as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. Two U-shapedbrackets 14 and 15 are located between the pallets 11 and 12. Two morebrackets 16 and 17 are located between pallets 12 and 13, and a thirdpair of brackets is mounted on pallet 13.

In Fig. 1 the elongated material 21 is stored in the rack formed by thebrackets 14 and 15 and the pallet 11. Similarly the elongated material22 is stored in the alined U-shaped openings in the brackets 16 and 17,and the material 23 in the brackets 18 and 19. The material 21, 22, and23 which is being stored is shown in dash-dot lines in Fig. 1 todistinguish it from the bracket and pallet structure.

The details of the brackets 14 through 19 of Fig. 1 are clearly shown inFig. 2. The bracket is preferably made of sheet steel, strip or anglestock. It has been found that inch thick stock is satisfactory for thispurpose. The bracket is generally U-shaped, and includes the base member31 and the two upright arms 32 and 33. For use with pallets which arefour feet wide, the brackets may be 45 inches long, and the arms may be32 inches high. Laterally-extending foot elements 34 and 35 are providedatopposite ends of the bracket so that the brackets stand erect freelywhen they are placed'on pallets. Accordingly, no additional fittings arerequired to hold the brackets in place.

The bracket as shown in Fig. 2 is also provided with a flange 36 againstwhich the elongated material bears. When elongated material is loadedinto a pair of the brackets, most of the weight is applied to theportion of the fiange36 forming part of the base member 31. With aconsiderable amount of weight being applied downwith respect to thepallet.

' mas wardly to the base members of the brackets, they are held rigidlyin place, once they are loaded.

In Fig. 2, the flanges or supporting elements 37 and 38 are mounted atthe top of the arms 32 and 33, respectively. They provide supportingareas for mounting additional pallets on top of the brackets. Thesupporting elements 37 and 38 are preferably flush with the flange 36 toinsure freedom in the removal of material stored in the bracket.Although the elements 37 and 38 are shown flush with the outer sides ofthe arms 32 and 33, they may extend outwardly to provide additionalsupporting area for the pallet. Reference may now be had to Fig. 1 inwhich the pallet '12 is shown mounted on the flanges at the upper endsof the arms of brackets 14 and 15.

Returning to Fig. 1, the many advantages of the present palletizingarrangement are obvious from a consideration of the example portrayed inthis figure of the drawings. was customary to store material, such asthe pipe indicated at 21, 22 and 23 in Fig. 1, directly on the dock or ion the floor of the warehouse.

Through the use of the brackets and standard pallets, however, the pipecan be unloaded directly into the brackets; and the palletized pipe canimmediately be stored and moved by a fork lift truck in a simple manner.The storage space saved by vertical stacking of the palletized materialis another advantage of the present invention. It is again noted thatthe key to every day use of the present materials handling techniquelies in the fact that the brackets are freely mountable on any standardpallet. 'As employed in the present specification and claims, the termfreely mountable. means that the bracket may be mounted on the pallet bya direct translational movement of the bracket This factor ofeasy'mounting, in combination with the relatively small-storage spacerequired, for the brackets, has greatly increased the efiiciency ofgeneral materials handling locations where they have been employed.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements and thespecific dimensions of the brackets are merely illustrative of theprinciples of the invention. Variations of the palletizing arrangementsmaybe devised by those skilled in the art without departing from' thespirit and scope of'the invention.

7 What is. claimed is: 1. In a palletized rack for storingelongatedobjects,

a plurality of 'U-shaped brackets, a plurality of standard palletsmounted on top of each other, each pallet being spaced from the adjacentpallets by a pair of said u-shaped brackets, each of said brackets beingfreely mountable 'on the pallet below it, said brackets extend ingsubstantially across the Width of said pallets and having the openingsof said U-shaped bracket alined with the longer dimension of saidpallets, and means for holding each bracketerect and means for at leastpartially supporting an overlying pallet included in the structure ofeach bracket.

2. In combination, two standard pallets, two U-shaped metal bracketslocated on one of said pallets at opposite ends thereof and supportingthe other of said pallets, each of said brackets being freely mountableon the pallet below it, and means for holding each bracket erect, andmeans for at leastpartially supporting an overlying pallet included inthe structure of each-bracket.

3. In a bracket for spacing 'stackedpallets and .concurrently'holdingelongated material, a single transverse member consisting only of acombined base and support beam member-having a length approximatelyequal to the width of said pallets, laterally extending feet secured tosaid transverse member for holding said-bracket-erect, upwardlyextending arms secured to eachend of said Prior to the advent of thepresent apparatus, it

4 end of a pallet above said bracket, the total width of said bracketbeing significantly less than one-half the length of said bracket.

4. A bracket as defined in claim 3 wherein said transverse member has alength of approximately four feet.

5. An arrangement for palletizing elongated material comprising a firstpallet, two U-shaped brackets resting on said pallet and including abase member and two upwardly extending arms located entirely above theupper surface of said first pallet, means for holding said pallet erectsecured to said base member, and means for supporting an overlyingpallet associated with the upper ends of each of said upwardly extendingarms, and asecond pallet resting on the upper ends of said arms.

6; In an arrangement for palletizin-g elongated objects, a piurality ofU-shaped brackets, and a plurality of standard pallets mounted on top ofeach other, each pallet being spaced from the adjacent pallet by a pairof said U-shaped brackets; each of said brackets including a base memberhaving a length approximately. equal to the width of said pallets,laterally extending feet secured to said base member for holding saidbracket erect, upwardly extending arms secured to .each end of said basevmember for retaining said elongated objects, and in dividual spacedsupporting elements mounted on the upper ends of each of said arms forholding a pallet above said bracket.

7.In an arrangement for palletizing elongated-material, a plurality ofU-shaped brackets, and a plurality of standard pallets including spacedupper and lower hours, said pallets being spaced from each other bypairs of said U-shaped brackets; each of said brackets including a basemember extending substantially across the width of one of said pallets,laterally extending feetsecured to said .base member for holding saidbracket erect, and upwardly extending arms secured to each end of saidbase member for retaining said elongated material; the base memberandarms of each of said brackets being located wholly above the upper floorof the pallet upon which it stands, and each of saidbrackets beingfreely mountable on the pallet on which it stands.

8. In an arrangement for pa'lletizing elongated material, a plurality ofU-shaped brackets, and a plurality of standard pallets including spacedupper and lower floors, said pallets'being'spaced from each other bypairs of 1 said U-shaped brackets; eachof said bracketsincluding a basemember extending substantiallyacross the widthof one .of. said pallets,foot elements extending lateraliy from'sa'idbase :member forholdingsaidbracket erect, upwardly extending arms :secured tocach end of said.base'member for retaining said elongatedmaterial, and individual spacedpallet-supporting elements mounted on the upper ends of each of saidarms;-the arms and base -men1ber of each ofsaid brackets being locatedwholly above the upper floor .of the pallet upon which it stands; andeach of said base members including a lower portion resting withsaid'foot elements on the upper floor of one of saidpallets and anupperfload bearing surface .spacedsignificantly from said upper floorto, permit the passage of ropes or similar materials handling gearbetween the elongated material andthe pallet.

References-Cited in thefile of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS basetransverse member for retaining said elongated mate- V rial, andindividual spaced supporting elements mounted on the upper ends of eachof said'arms for holding one Bonnier: PATENTS 708,924 Great Britain May;.12,.i1954

